"This tastes strange," Hina muttered, pulling a tongue out at the sourness of the ice cream, "how can you eat that with a straight face?"
Nanko chuckled, sinking the heel of his foot in the pavement to twirl toward her. "It's deliciously unique."
"Right, if you say so." She grimaced, giving the rest to a child that was eyeing the treat.
Nanko simply smiled, dragging her toward another stand, "I want that one." He pointed to a brown teddy bear that looked awfully soft to the touch.
Hina simply indulged him, taking the offered pistol, weighing it a few times before aiming. "Alright, 400 points for a teddy bear." She raised the pistol at arm's length, closing an eye before she shot. Along with the bang, the stall owner clapped, his smile twitching as he gave them the teddy bear, shooing them off before they ruined his scam.
"Here you go, brat." Hina shoved it in his arm, her lips raising when she saw his bright smile.
"Alright! Next one!" They went around the stalls, as the pile of toys started staggering in his arms.
They went on to walk, enjoying the rays of sun through the absurdly high trees. "I wonder what would happen if I popped those bubbles," Nanko wondered, looking up at the ginormous bubbles that were itching to be exploded.
They continued chatting, only stopping as they watched a crowd form in front of them. Nanko grumbled, "I sense trouble, let's turn back..."
Hina simply snorted, choosing not to comment on the irony of him saying that. "We're still on duty you remember right?" She raised an eyebrow, pointedly looking at their uniform.
A rather loud voice shouted, "How dare you?! Who do you think you are?"
"Here comes trouble," Nanko complained, pushing his way through the crowd with his pile of plushies.
The scene up ahead wasn't an unexpected one but it still left a sour taste in his mouth. A marine officer, which he vaguely recognized as one his subordinates, was pointing his blade at a slave—judging from his collar—while a hooded man stood in between.
"What the hell is this dumbass doing?" Nanko shook his head, watching the blatant arrogance displayed there. Even Hina couldn't help but frown. "Let's-" Nanko saw it happen before anyone else, in an instant, a blade was swinging down on the officer with frightening accuracy and Nanko had moved to intercept it.
"Hina!" Nanko shouted, gritting his teeth from the force of the impact. His other hand swiftly threw the officer at his partner "We'll deal with him later, take him away." The pressure increased on his blade. "Now, who the hell are you?"
He was pushed back a few steps as they broke contact. In his mind, he mourned for a second the fallen plushies before focusing again.
Nanko narrowed his eyes, staring hard at the face hidden under the hood. A slight stubble, a cocky smile, and an overbearing presence. Nanko wasn't any closer to figuring it out. But he didn't have time to ponder the question as the man attacked him once again, with a deceivingly normal sword.
Nanko was slowly pushed back as they clashed swords, feeling the fight wasn't in his favor, he called out to his opponent, "Why don't we stop before we cause any casualties?" There would be nothing to gain from revealing all his cards in a useless fight; he knew the Marine headquarters were still keeping an eye on him, though it had recently lessened.
The man didn't answer, only pushing harder, his attacks so slow they were visible to any ordinary spectator. But Nanko wanted to curse because the strength behind each of his attacks only made him want to cough up his organs from the shockwaves. And the bastard was clearly enjoying the fight because the strength only increased as did his smile.
Nanko frowned as he felt the blade of his Haki sword on the verge of chipping away. What kind of monster was he fighting that even a normal sword was enough to break his haki? Once thing was for sure, he would make sure to thoroughly punish the marine officer that had gotten him in that mess.
The blade aimed for his neck, he quickly parried, propulsing himself above before swinging down. The gravity wasn't of much help as the hooded man easily blocked his blade. Nanko was starting to get annoyed as more of a crowd gathered and the fight wasn't about to be finished anytime soon.
Nanko wasn't as strong, but he had enough experience to know how to make up for it. And if unnoticeably, his blade changed to become more rugged and spiky in an attempt to break his opponent's sword, it certainly wasn't his fault.
Nanko's sword style slowly leaned toward a more sharp and cunning style, his blade only aiming for deadly spots, repeatedly hitting the same part of the sword. If Hina had been watching, her mouth would have surely dropped open but unfortunately, no one was there to point out the change in his fighting style.
Except maybe his opponent whose moves had become more hesitant, almost like they began recognizing something.
And then, like a thrown bait, he whispered, "Oh, Luffy!"
Nanko didn't even think about it before following his gaze, turning his head to see—nothing. In an instant he realized the blunder he had committed. He jumped back, staring warily at the hooded man. "Who are you."
The question was answered by a wave of nausea that forced Nanko down one knee while knocking out the rest of the crowd, save for a bunch who stood straight. "Conqueror's Haki." But that wasn't the most surprising. As Nanko pushed himself up, he recognized the heads sticking out from the now fainted crowd, a familiar bunch he—more precisely—Konan hadn't seen in a while.
"Red hair pirates... So that means," he turned toward the hooded man who pushed his hood down with a warm smile. "Shanks."
"Konan," Shanks retorted, not even a sliver of doubt in his voice.
Nanko sighed, grumbling a bit, using Haki to make sure no one else was around before he walked toward the nearest food stand, stealing a lollipop. "Good afternoon Shanks, and the crew." There was an ounce of complaint in his tone.
He nodded at them, barely finching when suddenly Shanks' sword fell apart seemingly from a breeze. "Not my fault!"
"You look pretty like this," Shanks complimented, approaching him.
Nanko frowned before he slid a hand on his face, morphing back to his original appearance. "Why are you here?" Konan asked, looking at the small group that had gathered there.